Where do I start...

I have been away from my blog for more than two weeks, and I hardly know where to start. We've had a lot going on, and  I really want to get it all recorded before it slips from my memory, so here goes!

--On Aug. 14, we had the "End-of-Summer Scavenger Hunt" with 4 other families. It was our second scavenger hunt and was a blast! I want share more about it, so watch for a separate post about how to plan a photo scavenger hunt with friends!

--On Aug. 15, we added a member to our family. A 17-yr-old boy named Levi, from the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota came to live with us for the school year...we're praying it will be even longer. Our church created an exchange program and brought 23 kids from the reservation to live with host families in towns around the area.

--On Aug. 16, we moved Brandon into his dorm room at Iowa State University. It wasn't too hard on me emotionally, since he rode back home with us after we carried in his stuff and got it put away. :)  We took a picture of Byron and Brandon outside of Byron's old dorm room, which is in the same building. The other pictures I took of the day don't even have Brandon in them! My good intentions of taking lots of pictures was spoiled by rain. I could have at least taken one of him in his dorm room, but didn't!

--On Aug. 18, my youngest two, Ryan and Meg, started public school for the first time.  All four school kids posed for this picture:

first day of school - 2011

Then, they hurried to jump in Ellyn's car to head off to school. Except her car wouldn't start and it was blocking my car in the garage. I slowly worked my car out and we rushed off to school with the kids in a panic that they were about to be late for school on the first day!

--That same day, I started a new journey (which was my 2011"one little word") of being home all day with only a dog to keep me company. I had wondered all year what this day would be like, so I had saved lots of errands for this first day of school and had scheduled an appointment to donate blood (in case the day got too long!). Instead, the time flew by and I almost didn't make it back on time to pick up kids at school. :)

--The weekend of Aug. 20-21 brought a trip to the Des Moines farmers market with all seven of us on Saturday morning and to the Iowa State Fair on Sunday afternoon (Byron, Meg and Levi).

--On Tuesday, I hosted a craft day with friends. I had wanted to host a craft day since reading about Meg Duerksen's craft weekend back in February. I started smiling the minute I saw cars pulling into my driveway and ladies getting out carrying bags of crafty goodies and sewing machines! We had such a fun day and took lots of pictures--it definitely deserves its own post.

--This past Friday, Byron, Ellyn and I left for Rosebud to take Levi back for a funeral of a dear family member. It was my first time to go to Rosebud, after first hearing of it 4 years ago when Brandon went on a mission trip there. This weekend was also the Rosebud Fair, so several of the host families made the 8 hour drive to take their students back home for some fair fun and a chance to see their families.
We drove 8 hours on Friday and 8 hours back home yesterday. Ellyn stayed and rode back with another family today.

We are pretty tired today, so I am glad to be having a lazy Sunday afternoon! And especially glad to be catching up on the blog. :)